Code Threatens School

At Tennis Academy

Kent Koch thinks the tennis is below par in Scranton, Pa., where he grew up.

That's just one of the reasons he boards yearround at Macci International Tennis Academy in Delray Beach and attends school in the neighborhood.

"Studying here has brought my game up," Koch, 18, said. "I just got back from the National Clay Courts tournament in Louisville, Ky., and beat the third seed. This is good for me and my game."

But Koch and about 40 classmates may not have a school at the academy's doorstep much longer. The Developmental Resource Center, which was providing classes on campus for academy students, is moving to West Atlantic Avenue in August because schools are not allowed in residential areas.

The issue has started a volley of requests to the city for an amendment to Delray Beach's zoning code that would allow educational facilities - public and private - in residential neighborhoods.

Academy students such as Koch attend high school while playing tennis and working a rigorous training schedule.

The center offers a "condensed" version of junior high school and high school classes, director Sue Brockmiller said.

The Hollywood-based center is part of a national chain of schools for children with learning disabilities and attention deficit disorders, founder Deborah Levy said.

For the past year, the school has operated a satellite branch on the Macci Academy campus for students that board there, although the students are not necessarily learning disabled.

"We were told by the city that our school is not a permitted use in a residential area," Brockmiller said. "No one complained, except the city, but it's still not a legal use."

The Delray Beach Education Board has taken up the center's cause. The board asked the Delray Beach Planning and Zoning Board to consider allowing schools in residential districts.

Educational buildings are now permitted only in community facilities zoning districts.

"It's impractical to ask them to rezone that entire area around Macci's just so they can operate a small school there," said Diane Dominguez, director of the Planning and Zoning Board.

In a letter to Delray Beach Planning and Zoning Board Chairman Jean Beer, Education Board Chairman Robert Hayes said the center's school has caused no problems in the neighborhood and should be allowed to operate in a residential area.